1. Field of Invention
This invention relates in general to silencers and in particular to devices which are utilized with silencers, to alleviate the weight of a silencer, to allow the proper semi automatic function of a handgun which utilizes a Browning inspired operating system.
2. Prior Art
Silencers for handguns are well known in the prior art and have been used by the US military forces since World War II. Reducing the recoil, muzzle flash, and sound signature of the host firearm through the use of a silencer offers many advantages to the user. Muzzle flash is harmful to the user's night vision and provides a visual cue as to the location of the person discharging a firearm. The sound provides a visual cue to the location of a shooter and is harmful to his or her hearing. Silencers mitigate or eliminate these concerns. The device herein described is a booster which is utilized with a silencer to assist in the proper semi auto function of an autoloading handgun. Further, a system for orienting the silencer in relationship to the muzzle has been provided for.
Autoloading handguns are well known in the prior art. Expanding gases from a discharged projectile are utilized as a means to cycle the handgun thereby extracting a spent cartridge from the barrel's chamber, ejecting it and then loading a fresh cartridge, from a magazine, into the barrel's chamber. Designs which are based on or copies of those created by John Browning, utilize a breech lock system where the barrel tilts. The proximal end of the barrel goes down below the axis of the slide while the distal end of the barrel goes up above the axis of the slide. Firearms which utilize a variant of this locking mechanism include Colt, Glock, Heckler & Koch, Kimber, and SIG all of whom are well known manufacturers in the firearms industry. Advantages of an auto loading handgun, which provides for fast follow up shots and a higher magazine capacity as compared to revolvers, are well known.
The ability of a barrel's muzzle to rise above the axis of the slide is critical to proper function. The systems are designed to function without any additional weight on the muzzle of the barrel. As such, the inclusion of a silencer is often problematic. Designers needed a way to relieve the barrel of the weight of an attached silencer thereby allowing the handgun to function normally. Boosters, as they are commonly known, were developed to allow for the proper function of a handgun and silencer which utilized one. Designs such as the Advanced Armament Corp. ASAP and the Gemini Technology Neilson Device are two examples of boosters.
Boosters such as the one presented here enable reliable functioning of self-loading firearms that employ the Browning tilt-barrel locking system. If a silencer without a booster system is attached to virtually any self-loading firearm that employs the Browning tilt-barrel locking system, the weight of the silencer will bear down on the front of the barrel and disable the rear of the barrel from tilting downward as designed to affect the unlocking of the slide from the barrel to allow the extraction and ejection of the empty cartridge case and the feeding of a live cartridge into the chamber.
To understand how the Advanced Armament Corp. ASAP system works, a brief explanation of the design is necessary. The ASAP system isolates the mass of the silencer from the self-loading firearm. The interface piston is attached to the barrel of the self loading firearm by a mechanical attachment. The piston has a shaft with the mechanical attachment at one end, and a flange at the other end. There is a bore through the interface piston that allows free passage of the fired projectile. The silencer has a piston interface housing at the rear, with a stop for the piston in the forward end of the housing. The stop has a bore through which a fired projectile may pass unhampered, but is small enough that the piston head may not pass through. The piston interface is placed inside the piston interface housing so that the head of the piston rests against the piston interface stop at the forward end of the housing. A driving spring is placed inside the piston interface housing and around the piston shaft. The rear cap is attached to the piston interface housing via threads or another means of mechanical attachment, and has a bore through which the piston shaft may slide freely, but not the piston head. By installing the rear cap, the spring is held captive by the head of the piston and the inner face of the rear cap. When a silencer with an ASAP system is fired, the projectile travels down the barrel, through the bore in the attached piston, through the bore in the piston stop, and into the silencer. The gases propelling the projectile follow the same path as the projectile, but expand inside the silencer. These expanding gases push the silencer, piston interface housing, and rear cap forward against the tension of the spring. The spring and the piston are the only unsprung mass that is not propelled forward. As the weight of the silencer decouples from the barrel, the barrel is able to tilt downward at the rear, allowing the extraction and ejection of the empty cartridge case and the feeding of a live cartridge into the chamber. The driving spring then resets the silencer, piston interface housing, and rear cap back to their pre-fired position in anticipation of the following discharge.
While there are several designs on the market which function as a reliable booster for Browning inspired designs these designs have other deficiencies. Designs such as the Advanced Armament Corp. ASAP system (previous design) and the Gem-Tech Linear Inertial Decoupler recoil enhancer utilized a single set screw which prevents rotational movement of the silencer about the piston. These screws can back out during recoil. If improper solvents are used to clean the silencer, the adhesive which holds the screw into the housing can be dissolved allowing the screw to become threadedly unsecured. The screw is also known to break at times due to manufacturing defects. Further, the screw utilized only prevents gross rotational movement. If the silencer is allowed to freely rotate about the piston, the accuracy potential of the hand gun in use is severely diminished.
Another issue is related to the maintenance of the booster assembly. Traditional designs have relied on specialized tools to disassemble the booster. This requires that the user keep up with a tool which is not attached to the silencer itself. Further, such tools are generally so specific that there would be no substitute readily available from a source other than the manufacturer.
Still another issue is manufacturing efficiency. Having to secure a screw into the side of the housing by hand is inefficient and slow. Machining the indexing notches into the housing is more time efficient and provides a more robust indexing interface.
My device improves upon these previous designs is several ways. First, ten individual slots are evenly spaced about the interior of the booster housing. The slots are machined so that they receive the ten spokes present on the distal end of the piston.
Rotational movement is eliminated, not reduced. Further the utilization of ten individual indexing slots which are machined into the housing provides a more robust retention system for the piston. No one slot is bearing all of the rotation force being applied by the silencer.
Unrestrained rotational movement is no longer a concern for the user of my improved booster.
My novel device incorporates a provision which allows the user to disassemble the booster for maintenance without the need of special tools.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
3. Objects and Advantages
Accordingly several objects and advantages of the present invention are
(a) To provide a device which temporarily relieves the firearm barrel of the weight associated with an attached silencer to facilitate proper cycling of the host firearm.
(b) To provide an improved method for adjusting the silencer's orientation as it relates to the host firearm's barrel.
(c) To provide a more robust mechanism for the retention of the piston within the booster housing.
(d) To provide a device which minimizes rotational play once the piston is seated within the housing.
(e) To provide a device that is lighter in weight than similar designs.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.